Throughout the following centuries, variations of the game were played by
a spectrum of cultures ranging from Greeks and Romans to Ethiopians and Aztecs.

The modern game of field hockey evolved in England in the mid-19th century.
The first men's hockey club, Blackheath, was formed in 1849, and led to the establishment
of the Hockey Association in London in 1886.

The British army introduced the game to India and throughout the British colonies,
leading to the first International competition in 1895.

Hockey first appeared on the Olympic program at the 1908 London Games and again
in 1920 at Antwerp. The sport was again featured on the program at Amsterdam in 1928
and has been an Olympic sport ever since.

Women's hockey became a fixture on the Olympic program in Moscow in 1980.
Originally considered far too dangerous for female participation, field hockey
quickly became popular with women whose previous introduction to sport included
the "socially acceptable" outdoor activities of croquette and lawn tennis. With more and more
women becoming active in the sport, the liberating game of field hockey earned the dubious
title as the only team sport considered proper for women.

By 1887, the first women's hockey club appeared in East Mosley, England, and was quickly
followed by the creation of the All England Women's Hockey Association in 1889 . The sport
spread across the Atlantic in 1901 when English physical education instructor Constance
Applebee introduced the sport to the U.S. while attending a seminar at Harvard.Appalled at
the parlor games passing for exercise among young American women, Applebee borrowed some
sticks and a ball and staged the first hockey exhibition in the United States
behind the Harvard gymnasium.

The game received an enthusiastic response, and Applebee quickly spread the sport to some
of the region's most prestigious women's schools. By the early 1920's, several colleges and clubs
sponsored field hockey teams for women. The U.S. women's touring field hockey team
participated in its first international competition in 1920, and two years later the United States
Field Hockey Association was founded for the purpose of promoting
and generating enthusiasm for the sport.

With the increasing popularity of the sport, and through the pioneering efforts of the
Association's early touring teams, the U.S. continued its rise to international prominence.
In 1975, the U.S. appeared in the first I.F.W.H.A. World Championship of women's
hockey in Edinburgh, Scotland (10th), and five years later earned an invitation to the
first women's Olympic Games tournament in Moscow. The U.S. boycott of the 1980 Games
prevented the team from competing in Moscow. Four years later, the U.S. captured the
bronze medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. The team would continue its Olympic
tradition with appearances in Seoul in 1988 and Atlanta in 1996.

After the FIH conducted the first women's World Cup in 1975, the U.S. team began an
impressive string of successive trips to the prestigious tournament in 1983. The U.S.
would qualify for each of the ensuing World Cup tournaments including a bronze medal
finish in Dublin in 1994. With similar humble beginnings, men's field hockey began in the
United States with the first official match between the Westchester Field Hockey Club (Rye NY)
and the German town Cricket Club (near Philadelphia) in 1928. That same year, the Field
Hockey Association of America was formed, and in 1930, the FHAA became the fourteenth
member of hockey's international federation, the Federation International de Hockey (FIH).

Today, the FIH features over 100 member nations. Henry Greer,considered the founder of men's
hockey in the United States, served as president of the FHAA from 1930 to 1959 and served
as player-coach on the 1932 U.S. Olympic team.Bolstered by its new international membership,
the U.S. Men's team competed in the Olympic Games for the first time at the 1932
Los Angeles Games. The three-team tournament saw the United States earn the bronze
medal after losing to silver medalist Japan, 9-2, and gold medal winner India, 24-1.
The U.S. men went on to compete in other Olympic Games in 1936, 1948, 1956, 1984 and 1996.
A lack of funds and political challenges kept the team from competing in 1952.

With the inclusion of hockey in the Pan Am Games in 1967 and Olympic qualification
dependent on success in Pan Am event, the FHAA faced mounting obstacles in
returning to the Games. In April of 1993, the FHAA and the USFHA, at the urging of the
United States Olympic Committee, merged to form one national governing body for both
women's and men's field hockey. The USFHA currently seeks to foster and develop the
amateur sport of field hockey by providing participation opportunities for players,
coaches, officials, and administrators and preparing teams to represent the United States
in international competitions.

With programs ranging from elite teams and futures identification to club hockey and
grassroots development, today's Field Hockey continues to raise public awareness and promote
the sport as a lifetime activity. The Hockey Association provides players, coaches, officials
and administrators educational and participation opportunities while supplying support
and resources essential to the development and enjoyment of the game.

Even if its just a ball and stick. Field Hockey is one of the world's most popular games,
field hockey is also one of the world's oldest competitive team sports.Evidence of games played
with a ball and stick date back over 4,000 years to the Nile Valley Egypt, and similar games
were played by civilizations ranging from the Greeks and Romans to the Ethiopians and Aztecs.

The modern game of field hockey evolved in England during the 19th century and led to
the creation of the sport's international federation, the Fédération Internationale de Hockey (FIH)
in 1924. After Constance Applebee introduced the sport to the United States in 1901,
the United States Field Hockey Association was formed in 1922.The Olympic Games included
men's field hockey on the official program for the first time in 1908, and women's field hockey
earned a spot on the program in 1980. Hockey's most coveted international prize, the World Cup
is held every four years with 12 men's and 12 women's teams competing for the title of World
Champion. The first men's World Cup was played in 1971 with the women's event added in 1974.